Chapter 23

Li Hao didn't hide it and told the old man the truth.

Upon learning it was Bull Strength, Li Li Muxiu nodded slightly without saying anything, then tossed Li Hao a backpack: "Inside is the bait you'll use. Tongli Realm demons love to eat it. Which kind you catch depends on your luck."

Having said that, he prepared to take Li Hao downstairs.

"What about my creel?" Li Hao asked.

"Ha..." Li Li Muxiu laughed and said, "Talk about that after you manage to catch something. If you really catch something, share mine."

"Alright."

Li Hao didn't insist.

As the two went downstairs, they saw Li Fu actually waiting outside the building.

"Second Uncle, you two are..."

Seeing the fishing rod in Li Hao's hand, Li Fu was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened slightly.

"Need you ask? Going fishing." Li Li Muxiu glanced at him, clearly having no interest in talking to this blockhead.

Li Fu was instantly on the verge of tears: "Second Uncle, Hao'er learned Bull Strength in three months and practiced it to perfection; his body-tempering talent is extremely high. You, you cannot delay him!"

"You said this yesterday, can you change the tune?"

Li Li Muxiu picked at his ear and said, "What's the use of body tempering? At most, it'll reach your level. Let me ask you, are you very good at fighting? Can you block ten thousand soldiers?"

Li Fu was speechless.

The ten thousand soldiers Li Li Muxiu spoke of were naturally not ordinary soldiers, but the Li family's Yuan Battalion, where the most elite warriors were. Ten thousand soldiers were enough to trample half a city; how could he possibly block them?

"Hao'er, don't mind him, let's go."

Li Li Muxiu seemed afraid that Li Fu would interfere with Li Hao's thoughts, so he grabbed Li Hao's little hand and left.

"Uncle Fu, don't worry."

Li Hao waved at Li Fu. Although this man had a serious and rigid personality, Li Hao would not ignore this concern for him.

"Hao'er..."

Li Fu opened his mouth slightly, wanting to ask him to stay, but seeing Li Hao being dragged away, looking back with that bright little face, the words that had reached his lips seemed blocked by something and couldn't be spoken.

*With such a massive Divine General Mansion, can it not afford to raise a child? *

Yesterday's words seemed to echo in his ears again, word for word.

Li Fu fell silent.

Perhaps, at this moment, Hao'er is happy.

At least he can have a happy childhood...

The two figures, one old and one young, disappeared in an instant, leaving only the man standing there, sighing softly after gazing for a long time...

With an experience like riding the clouds and driving the mist, Li Hao was led by Li Li Muxiu, speeding through the high sky.

The various courtyards of the Divine General Mansion flashed rapidly beneath his feet. Li Hao saw the maids and retainers fetching water and cooking in each courtyard, saw the eldest aunt who had already woken up and was strolling in the courtyard, and the fifth aunt sending her child to the martial arts field, still giving earnest instructions at the gate...

These scenes flashed by in a hurry, making Li Hao sigh; he hadn't expected that at the hour he usually slept in, the human world was already so colorful.

"Are you afraid?"

Li Li Muxiu asked calmly, looking down.

"Afraid of heights? It's alright," Li Hao said.

He felt no difference between his feet and standing on flat ground; there seemed to be an extremely solid force supporting him.

The cold morning wind blowing in his face also seemed to be filtered by something; only a cool breeze brushed his face, stirring his hair.

Li Li Muxiu smiled slightly and said, "I'm going to speed up."

After saying this, Li Hao felt the scene before him suddenly blur, moving like lightning.

In the blink of an eye, they had already flown out of Qingzhou City, heading toward the vast mountains and wilderness outside the city.

Half an hour later, Li Li Muxiu brought Li Hao down slowly to the edge of a vast, large lake.

This lake was boundless, with black water surging.

Green water is deep, black water is an abyss.

It was evident that this large lake was bottomless. At this moment, the surface only had slight ripples, looking calm and tranquil.

But precisely because of this, there was a hair-raising feeling of standing before an abyss.

Around the lake were several large mountains, with open terrain; some were steep against the lake, others were low, round, and vast.

At this moment, the two landed at the foot of a mountain. Li Li Muxiu scanned the area and said with seasoned experience: "The water is shallow here; you fish here. I'm going to the center of the lake to catch the big ones. Keep this thing with you; it can help you block if the situation becomes critical. Don't worry, if there's any movement on your side, just shout, and I'll arrive at the first moment."

"Alright."

Li Hao nodded and took the golden talisman the old man handed him.

"Do you know how to bait the hook? Let me watch you cast."

Li Li Muxiu didn't rush to leave. He swept his palm, and the large rock beside him weathered away, turning into a fishing platform.

He waved his hand again, clearing away the messy grass around to avoid the fishing line getting caught on branches or weeds when casting. For a novice like Li Hao, clearing that up would inevitably waste some time.

Li Hao jumped onto the large rock fishing platform and opened the backpack, which contained a bag of moist, soft red dough.

"To catch these small Tongli Realm demons, dead bait is enough. When your strength is sufficient later, I'll give you live bait to fish with; the probability of them biting is higher," Li Li Muxiu said.

Li Hao wasn't picky either. He nodded and skillfully pulled out a clump of bait, immediately smelling a wave of fishy odor.

He kneaded the bait onto the fishing hook, which was the size of a fist; it took quite a bit of bait to cover it completely.

Seeing Li Hao's posture, Li Li Muxiu was somewhat surprised: "Have you fished before?"

"No."

Li Hao asked: "Isn't it done like this?"

"It is." Li Li Muxiu nodded and glanced at Li Hao, but didn't think too much of it. From the few words exchanged yesterday, he had already seen that this child was intelligent.

"This thing can mask your scent." Li Li Muxiu pulled a handful of powder from somewhere, patted it on Li Hao, and then said: "Cast your line. If you can catch one today, I'll bring you to play again tomorrow."

"Alright."

Li Hao nodded.

Then he swung the fishing rod, casting the line to its maximum length, throwing it a hundred *zhang* away into the lake.

As the hook hit the water with a *ding-dong*, a line of text jumped out before Li Hao's eyes: 【Fishing Dao: Level Zero (1/100)】

【Fishing Experience +2】

Li Hao smiled in his heart; sure enough, the fishing art from that game could also be recorded into the panel.

Moreover, what surprised Li Hao was that just by casting the line, he actually gained 2 experience points! One must know that when he played a game of chess, it usually only gave one point.

Only when encountering a chess game with a bit of technique would it give 2 experience points.

It seems that fishing is the same as the Dao of Chess, which also means that this lake is a relatively dangerous one, and fishing here is quite difficult.

"Remember, be patient, don't make a sound, don't startle the things under the water."

"Don't look around, keep your eyes on the float."

"When you first start fishing, you might find it a bit boring, but when you get a bite, you'll know that all the boring waiting is worth it."

Li Li Muxiu taught him earnestly, worried that Li Hao, with his childish nature, would give up after a while.

After all, fishing is something mostly done by old folks like them; a seven or eight-year-old child is at the age of being active, how could he endure this loneliness?

"Mm."

Li Hao nodded.

Seeing Li Hao's calm and composed appearance, Li Li Muxiu's mouth curled into a slight smile, and he said no more, watching quietly from the side.

Since he wasn't the one casting, he secretly released his spiritual sense to probe the movement under the water, seeing that something was already swimming toward this side—two small fish at the fourth and seventh levels of the Tongli Realm.

"Deserving of the novice protection period, movement so quickly. Let's see if he can catch it."

Li Li Muxiu felt envious in his heart. Although he could use methods to secretly make the fish bite, which would greatly cultivate Li Hao's interest in fishing, his own love for fishing didn't allow him to do such boring things.

Not long after, Li Hao saw the float move.

His eyes lit up, and he endured for a moment; only when the float was half-submerged did he pull the rod rapidly.

This pull made the line instantly taut, and the other end of the hook caught something, struggling hard, sending waves of immense force.

It was just that this immense force, in Li Hao's hands, was like willow catkins being rubbed; he pulled hard, and the other end was uncontrollably dragged over.

"Don't be too hasty, be careful of it unhooking," Li Li Muxiu said from the side.

Li Hao felt a chill in his heart, quickly eased up a bit, and then, under Li Li Muxiu's guidance, played the fish with measured tension.

The black lake water surged with waves, and the splashes were immense.

It took ten minutes or so for Li Hao to drag this exhausted demon fish up. It was four or five meters long, with a mouth full of sharp fangs, capable of swallowing an adult in one bite.

If someone were to accidentally fall into the water, they would definitely be a feast for this fish demon.

The Tongli Realm fish hadn't learned to transform yet, and their intelligence was only just beginning to show; they only had a bloodthirsty and fierce demonic nature.

As the fish was dragged ashore, text jumped out before Li Hao's eyes.

【Fishing Experience +37】

Li Hao stared slightly; good heavens, this was almost half a bar of experience! The fish demon, once ashore, struggled and flailed, actually opening its mouth to viciously pounce on Li Hao, wanting to eat this human.

Li Li Muxiu flicked his finger, and the fish demon's body shrank, turning into a small fish the size of a pellet, which he casually picked up and tossed into the creel.

"Kid, didn't expect you to open for business so quickly."

Li Li Muxiu laughed and said to Li Hao: "How does it feel? Tired? This fish is at the seventh level of the Tongli Realm; the power it erupts with under the water is even greater. Even someone at the eighth level of the Tongli Realm might not be able to hold the rod. You kid actually have some ability!"

"Not tired."

Li Hao grinned.

"Fine, then you continue. Just right, I'll take this fish to use as bait."

Li Li Muxiu was itching to fish, and after saying this, he carried the creel, took one step, and flew into the distance, becoming a black dot in the blink of an eye.

Li Hao gazed into the distance and saw the other party run to the center of the lake. With his eyesight, he could only barely see a small dot.

Shaking his head, Li Hao didn't look anymore and continued to seize the time to farm experience.

Baiting the hook again, he cast.

【Fishing Experience +2】

Li Hao sat on the fishing platform, staring at the float and waiting quietly.

The previous example showed that if he could catch the fish, he would get more experience, so he didn't get distracted.

Time passed slowly.

Perhaps it was because the previous fish had struggled for too long and the splashes were too big, startling the surrounding fish. Li Hao sat for an hour, and the float didn't move at all.

Could it be that it had secretly eaten the bait?

This thought popped into Li Hao's mind, and he wanted to pull the hook up to check, but he held back.

Just now, he had wanted to exploit a bug by repeatedly casting, which was much faster than fishing directly to farm experience.

As a result, the second cast only added one experience point.

The third cast added nothing.

Clearly, if the frequency was too high and there was no bite, the experience gained from just casting was limited.

Just then, the stationary float moved violently.

Li Hao's almost numb eyes lit up, but before he could continue to endure, the float disappeared into the water in an instant.

Li Hao hurriedly pulled the rod, the line went *woo* and tightened, pulling straight, and a wave of immense force instantly came from the other end, actually weighing several dozen *ding*.

(End of chapter)